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Hello Resident Time is running out for you to nominate a Neighbourhood Watch volunteer for our Volunteer Recognition Awards 2025. We have received over 250 nominations so far and we are so excited to read about the great work volunteers are doing in your local communities. We wanted to highlight one of our worthy winners last year and hope that their story may inspire you to nominate someone this year. Sam, a NW Coordinator won our Innovation and Reach category in 2024. Sam is a dedicated Coordinator from Lancashire and the judging panel was impressed and commented “Love the innovative reach into schools and link with the older generation.”. Sam’s nomination reads: Sam, who works full-time and has a young son, has transformed lives since she started living in our village Halton (near Lancaster) a few years ago. She has set up Halton Neighbourhood Watch, which meets regularly and whose main aims are to tackle loneliness and litter. To meet these objectives she initiated a scheme to support those living alone whereby children from Halton and schools in Lancaster produce homemade cards with positive messages. She then personally delivers these to mostly older people who live alone and rarely see others. She is especially active over the Christmas period but continues with the card scheme at other times, including Valentine's Day. To further this objective she set up a special facebook page. Fighting Loneliness, One Village at a time, starting with Halton and nearby Caton and Brookhouse. Posts on this facebook page show the fantastic range of cards produced by the children and how much this kindness is appreciated by the many recipients, along with the large number of thank you letters she has received. And a highlight of the year is a fantastic event, usually in late March, where she brings together the children who produced the cards and the recipients. She gives children games and activities and the older people card and other games, as well as refreshments. And she is always active in seeking sponsorship to pay for the events so they are free of charge to those who attend. In addition, she has encouraged local companies and residents to donate Christmas presents to the value of to give to elderly and lonely people in the local community who rarely receive gifts at Christmas. This has been a great success and again much appreciated by the recipients. She personally delivers presents, wearing a cheery Elf outfit and accompanied by her young son, to large numbers of people. And then since April 2021 - she has organised monthly litter picks around Halton and over 50 locals have taken part, even in challenging weather. Again she has secured sponsorship to give prizes to children and refreshments to adults. Everyone really appreciates this campaign with Halton looking a lot better. She is quite simply an outstanding and inspirational citizen
So you can see, Sam was a deserving winner and it wasn’t just what she done, but how it made people feel about their community and breaking down barriers to connect with each other, that stood out for the judges.  So if you know a Neighbourhood Watch volunteer that you feel has broken down barriers, reached further within a community, or has simply mad a difference to your life, then why not nominate them. All those that are nominated are informed that they have been nominated, so even if they do not win, they get told they have made a difference! Nominations close on Sunday 6th July, so you still have time to complete our simple online form. Just visit our webpage HERE and get nominating. Best wishes Cheryl | 
